Cavalier and aggressive': why are border agents flooding into US cities?

"Border patrol officers have become ubiquitous footsoldiers in Donald Trump's mass deportation plan, and lawyers and human rights advocates worry that the agency is expanding its aggressive tactics into cities far from its conventional range. Led by Gregory Bovino, a particularly hardline Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sector chief from southern California, border patrol agents have become a daily presence in several major cities across the US."

"Earlier this month in Chicago's Southwest Side, a border patrol shot a woman multiple times amid protests against the Trump administration's militarized immigration raids in the city. This summer in Los Angeles, border agents on horseback swept through a public park downtown riding alongside national guard troops and other agents in military vehicles. In southern California, videos of border patrol agents pinning down and beating 48-year-old landscaper Narciso Barranco went viral."

"Agents have also made arrests in California's agricultural Central Valley and at New York immigration courthouses. They have set up immigration checkpoints in Washington DC. Lawyers and human rights advocates say the agents, who are trained to block illegal entries, drug smugglers and human traffickers at the country's borders, may be ill-suited to conduct civil immigration enforcement in urban communities. The border patrol is certainly quite cavalier, and has been very aggressive historically as it goes about its enforcement responsibilities, said Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez, a law professor at Ohio State University. They tend to do their work in rural places and isolated parts of the United States. And they generally are not trained in community interactions and policing. Gregory Bovino (center) has been leading efforts in several major US cities. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images"

Border Patrol officers have expanded operations into major US cities under a campaign tied to Donald Trump's deportation plans. Gregory Bovino, a hardline CBP sector chief from southern California, has led an increased urban presence. Operations have included a Chicago shooting during protests, mounted sweeps through a downtown Los Angeles park alongside National Guard troops, and viral footage of agents beating landscaper Narciso Barranco. Agents have arrested people in California's Central Valley and at New York immigration courthouses, and established checkpoints in Washington, DC. Lawyers and human rights advocates warn that Border Patrol training focuses on rural interdiction of illegal entries, drug smugglers, and traffickers, not community policing.

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